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A fun and useful novelty torch

Despite being an over-20 years old, I am still fond of collecting novelty products. My mum knows this and occasionally buys me animal novelty items for both of our amusement. At her work, there are usually sales person around to sell various items and this novel torch was one of them. My mother, being herself, thought it would be amusing to buy these wind up LED torches for both of us. Fair to say, she wasn't wrong.

My mum bought two wind up LED torches, one is a pink pig version and the other is the cow one as shown in the picture above. Each one costs her about £4.00. She kept the pig one to herself and gave the cow torch to me as a present. From my research on online, I found that these wind up LED torches are also sold in other animal forms such as ducks and dogs. The prices can range from £3 to more than £5 depending on the retailers and delivery charges.

I think the idea of these wind up LED torches are quite ingenious really. The torches require no batteries at all and is self-powered. The LED lights, two of them, are quite bright if the inner dynamo is fully charged so the quality of this torch is very satisfactory. The torch is about the right size of 11 cm (height) and the body width is about 3-4 cm. I have a small hand but it does fit well in my hand. Just for comparison, I am 5' 2'' tall and the height of my hand is about the length of a pen.

To use the wind up LED torch, the pump at the side needs to be continuously pressed up and down to charge the dynamo inside. Once it is charged, there is a button to the other side to switch the LED lights on. It also comes with the 'continuous ON' mode where the LED lights up as you continuously press the pump up and down.

The most use I get out of this LED light is when the fuse is short-circuited in the house. When this happens at night, it cloaks the whole house in complete darkness. I keep this LED torch in the bedside table drawer so it can be found easily in situation like this. It is quite easy and quick to power up the LED lights and I can easily find my way downstairs to flip back the fuse switch. This wind up torch is also useful to take out trash at night because the wheelie bin for our house is located in the narrow alley next to the house, it used to have a light bulb but it burned out and we didn't have a chance to fix it. So, this wind up torch comes in handy for taking out small bags of rubbish.

Overall, I am surprised that I get some use out of this novelty wind up torch. To be honest, when my mum gave this to me, I immediately categorised this under the list of things 'fun but useless'. I was wrong and this is actually quite fun to use. Besides, it doubles as a drawer accessory because I can hang it as a toy animal on the handle of my bedside drawer sometimes. I think this is made mostly for kids but who's to say that adults can't have some use out of this as well.

Thank you for reading and reviewing. :) x

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Great fun dynamo torch.

I live in a rural part of Wales where it rains a lot and the coal man still delivers. Everybody knows everybody and you can leave your house and car unlocked quite safely. Great stuff but the weather here is diabolical. It rains. A lot. Accompanying the rain are frequent power cuts especially as I live quite high up, the wind is very strong here and I am not far from the sea. Hence we have a bunch of torches hanging up around the house for occasions when it suddenly goes very dark and everything shuts down.Having become fed up with my daughter pinching everything of mine from Laptops, cameras, torches...I got her one of her own. Meet "Daxter" the plastic dynamo driven torch-cow hybrid...

This is one of many animal style dynamo torches that are made by Suncamp who are as the name might suggest a camping gear company. There are a variety of these available on Amazon in the £4-£7 mark including a pig, chick, penguin etc. Coolest of all though is the cow...

This torch will never need batteries, a boon for parents who struggle to keep up with the constant demand for batteries to make the plastic toys that plink, squeak and annoy work. He is a novelty item but he is a functional novelty item and considering the price he is reasonably well made too.

The torch is child sized... not too small but fits in the hand of my nearly 4 year old easily. The LED light shines through his mouth and LED of course is a very economical way to use power. The three bulbs seem indestructible as the Daxter the cow-torch has had a hard life with us and has sustained concussion on several occasions due to an over-enthusiastic child.

QUALITY:

Daxter the cow-torch is well made and constructed. He features a reasonably thick plastic shell and dynamo handle on the side which is easy to use even for a child (although it does get a *bit* boring having to make your own electricity as opposed to the instant gratification of batteries). We home educate, so this is also a tool to teach the basics of the dynamo and renewable electricity creation. Potato clock will be next...

He features a long handle made of webbing so that he can be hung easily from a chair, a hook etc and this is strongly attached. The long dynamo button pops back up easily and has never got stuck. To charge the torch you have to squeeze this long lever button in repeatedly, building up the electricity via the inner dynamo. You have a choice of continuous "on" function should the torch be fully charged, or you can use it as you go, just pumping the side as you use it.

Brightness:

My daughter is getting older now and we spend a lot of time looking for fairies at dusk and poking around in "dragon caves" along the various West Wales beaches. Daxter often comes along and has survived damp, sand and ice cream. The torch sits somewhere between a toy and a practical item therefore although Daxter is not the brightest tool in the box, he does give enough light to keep my daughter happy. The torch gets brighter as you "pump" it up but does not manage to illuminate the far reaches of fairyland nor the dragons cave.

Illumination:

Pumping it up via the long side button lasts a reasonable amount of time but this of course is dependent upon usage. It is a bit noisy to pump and you do get wrist ache after a while but I simply swap hands. Again this is not something to get if you want a serious camping torch but for emergencies and entertaining children then it is a good buy despite having to pump it up.

More camping stuff available from the manufacturer here: http://www.sunnflair.com

Summary:

Daxter the cow-torch is a cheaper alternative to buy for a child than a battery powered torch. It is also great fun for a child and an educational tool. It gives sufficient light for exploring and shadow puppets on the wall when you are supposed to be asleep but don't expect miracles. Great for an emergency torch in the home or car too and will never run out of power of course. Both my daughter and I recommend Daxter so 5 stars.

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Safe, fun and easy to use,

This is a novelty torch, I brought it for my daughter for her bedroom to hang on her headboard, in case we have a power cut then she has access to a torch.

Although it is in my daughters room, it is me that charges it for her, and we use it when we go for a walk with the dog or take it on holiday.

=Novelty=This is a novelty product and there are other animals such as a pig available in the range. It is about 12cm in length, 2 cm in height and the width I'd say about 5cm.

=Price=We brought ours from a gift shop at a farm venue and paid £1.50 for it, bargain price

=To Use=On the one side of the cow is two slide switches, the first is the on/off switch and the second which is lower down and near the rear, this is the switch that locks in the mechanism that you use as a charger.

=Brightness=The torch has 3 LCD lights, so does have quite a wide range that you can see with and a distance of a good 10 metres in front of you.

=To Charge=This does not need batteries, it works by the friction of the movement of the hand, it is similar to squeezing a ball in your hand. A 30 second of charging will give about 30 minutes of light.

=Useful=We already have a selection of the basic styles all around the house and the cars, but this is my daughters as she keeps reminding me.

=We needed it=About 18 months ago we were staying in a Travel Lodge, I'd just been to the bathroom got back into bed, when I thought that's a funny ringtone on my phone, and looking around the room it was too dark to be morning. It was a fire alarm, I woke my daughter up, I grabbed my glasses, and car keys (glasses so I could see, car keys - so if the worst happened we could get to the next location.

My daughter grabbed her torch as she had insisted on it being on the bedside cabinet, hit the nearest fire escape, only to find that the emergency lights were not working and we had 2 flights of stairs to descend, I was never so glad to see that torch in my life.

(It was a false alarm as someone had burnt toast in the staff room - at 5am that didn't go down well).

Since then, cow is only allowed on holidays as he is special.

=In Conclusion=For the couple of pound that I paid I was really impressed with the torch, it looks like a squashed cow, but is fun and if it gives children a security element, then it is worth its weight in gold.

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Buy it if you see it.

It is a dark night...The only light you have is from your every day torch. Flicker. The light goes out! Oh no! Your battery has run out and you're all alone in the dark.Not any more! With the pump up cow torch you'll never be alone or without light.

This hilarious toy torch is a cheap novelty product that will help you find your way through a dark forest at night or help your kid get to their bed with the light out after bed time. Either way this quirky little product has a great design and is perfect as a small present for all ages.

Brightness:The torch quite simply is not very bright but it does get brighter the more you pump it up. It uses 3 LED lights so it does light up quite a big range and the cow comedy factor certainly brightens everyone's mood (I hope that joke brightened yours). I'm not saying that the torch doesn't work as a torch because it does but if you aren't buying this torch for the comedy factor then just buy a real normal torch.

Usefulness:The idea is very useful but it could be a lot lighter and smaller. t doesn't fit in a pocket I think it is also hard to say how useful a toy torch aimed at kids is because the purpose isn't just to be bright but also to give thee kid something fun to do. It does everything it says it does and I sometimes find myself playing with it because squeezing the little lever thing is strangely addictive. Like most torches it has a wrist strap which is especially useful to make sure your kid doesn't drop it and lose it.

Battery life:Although the main point of this is that you don't have to worry about batteries then pumping it up does last a while and you won't need to re pump it very often. This is quite useful because the sound that t makes while pumping is insanely irritating.

Summary:The pump up torch is a much cheaper alternative to the normal battery powered torch as you never need to buy new batteries for it. It will light up a room or wood with out any trouble but it isn't the brightest torch there is. It is fun and has a good novelty design but it is quite clearly more of a toy for children then a torch for campers.

It is a dark night...he only light you have is from an awesome little cow that just so happens to have light shining out its nose. Flicker. The light goes out! Oh no! Your battery has run out, but that doesn't matter because now you can just pump it back up.Light again!How delightful!============================Price:Most shops sell these torches for £5 to £10.They also come as pigs, dogs an even ducks as ell as some other animals but the cow looks by far the coolest(in my opinion).

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hours of harmless fun!

Torches! Not the most fascinating toy in the world, but a handy gadget around the house never the less.

When my brother bought this for my Son one Christmas, I have to be honest it took me a while to wonder where the theory came from, but I need not have worried. Children love anything with buttons and switches, and if batteries are not needed at all, all the easier for the parents i say!

This torch is made by Sunncamp and I believe it was around £6. It is packaged in shrink wrapped plastic and needs a bit of faffing and some scissors to get into it. It is worth the wait though i think! There are 3 designs to choose from. The cow, Penguin and Pig!

As you can see, it is a cow! Its mouth makes up the light itself and it is LED meaning it uses very little power and the bulbs should never need replacing! It is predominently white in colour with brown patches to its face and body. The cow has small orange horns, and a pink mouth. To the one side on the main body of the cow, you will find 'a large button', that needs to be pushed in to the body. It will automatically pop back out, but the action of doing this repeatidly charges the dynamo to give you light. This light will automatically come on as you pump the lever, or alternitavely, if you 'charge' the torch up enough, there is a small switch on the device to give you continuous light, this is on the opposite side of the torch body. By the cow's bottom, you will find a strap in a brown fabric that my little one uses to keep hold of the torch for when he is swinging it around!

My son has used this torch for many things. It has been his torch when he has played Drs, for looking in mummys mouth, ears and unfortunately eyes. It is a favourite when we are playing dens in the house and we will never go camping without it.

We are avid campers, and he absolutely loves to use this at night when he goes to sleep, and if we have to trek across the campsite for him to have a wee at 4 am, 'pickle' the cow comes too! The light it gives off is quite bright, and white in colour if there is a lot of charge in the torch, but the range is not very far or wide i feel ,and if you are doing something like trekking across a field, you may need alternative light sources too!!

None the less, this is a funky torch that is durable and easy to keep clean. It has been the amusement of my son for hours and hours, and due to its hand held size, is very easy to take about too.